John Johnson wrote:British label Network Releasing will bring to Blu-ray director Cy Endfield's action thriller Hell Drivers (1957), starring Stanley Baker, Herbert Lom, Peggy Cummins, Patrick McGoohan, and William Hartnell. The release will be available for purchase on February 20.

Synopsis: This tremendous hard-boiled action thriller from Zulu director Cy Endfield features memorable performances from both Stanley Baker and Patrick McGoohan as rival drivers for a ruthless road-haulage company. An outstanding cast includes Herbert Lom, Peggy Cummins, William Hartnell, Sid James, Gordon Jackson and Wilfrid Lawson, with early appearances from Sean Connery and David McCallum. Hell Drivers is featured here in a stunning new high-definition transfer from the original film elements, in its original aspect ratio.

When ex-con Tom Yately signs up as a driver for Hawlett's, he uncovers shady dealings between the manager and the viciously ambitious head driver the drivers are paid per trip, with a bonus system encouraging them to drive at reckless speeds and take dangerous risks. The stakes are raised when a fatal accident claims the life of Tom's only workplace ally, and he vows to take revenge.

James Robertson Justice, Leslie Phillips, Stanley Baxter, Eric Sykes, John Le Mesurier and Richard Wattis feature in this raucous early-sixties PoW escapade directed by Ken Annakin and co-written by Jack Davies – both Oscar-nominated for Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines. Based on real-life events during World War II, Very Important Person (re-titled A Coming Out Party for its US release) is featured here in a brand-new transfer from the original film elements, in its original aspect ratio.

As the subject of a This Is Your Life-style television show, eminent aviation scientist Sir Ernest Pease revisits his wartime experience on a secret reconnaissance mission which ended abruptly when the bomber he was testing was downed over Germany. Captured and held in a prisoner of war camp, Pease found himself among a motley, relentlessly optimistic group of RAF officers – who were tireless in helping their brilliant but ill-tempered fellow prisoner carry out his audacious escape plan!

British label Network Releasing will bring to Blu-ray Peter Whitehead 's documentary Tonite Let's All Make Love In London. The release will be available for purchase on May 1.

Synopsis: Featured here as a brand new restoration, Peter Whitehead's celebrated film probes the myth and the reality of "Swinging London" presenting an intimate, impressionistic collage of rare concert and studio performances, interviews with key figures from the worlds of music, art and cinema, and images of Sixties counterculture.

John Lennon, Yoko Ono, Mick Jagger, Vanessa Redgrave, Lee Marvin, Julie Christie, Allen Ginsberg, Edna O'Brien, David Hockney and Michael Caine are among those captured on film and in sound; bookended by a performance of Pink Floyd's Interstellar Overdrive, the soundtrack features songs by the Rolling Stones and Eric Burdon. Made when many young people saw politicised hedonism as the logical response to global uncertainty, Whitehead's "Pop Concerto for Film" taps into both the confidence and the confusion of an iconic moment in time.

One of ITC's best-loved series, Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased) took the standard "private eye" formula that the company excelled in and turned it on its head... by making one of the partners a ghost!

Starring Mike Pratt as the rugged, down-to-earth Jeff Randall and Kenneth Cope as his late partner Marty Hopkirk, the glamour is supplied by Annette Andre as Marty's wife, Jean. Newly remastered in HD from the original 35mm film elements for this Blu-ray edition, Randall & Hopkirk (Deceased) has been given a new lease of (after) life!

On this disc:

When the Spirit Moves You
Marty plays bodyguard... only the body he's guarding can see him!

Never Trust a Ghost
It's hard to trust a ghost when he says he has seen a murder but the victim is still alive!

Money to Burn
Hot money puts Randall into a hot spot when he's accused of stealing money intended for the incinerator.

The Man From Nowhere
Jean meets a man who claims to be the reincarnation of her late husband.

PLEASE READ THE FOLLOWING NOTES BEFORE YOU PLACE YOUR ORDER

• This is a PRE-BUY for Randall and Hopkirk: Deceased Volume 4 out of six Blu-ray and is only available while stocks last.

• As this is a PRE-BUY PAYMENT WILL BE TAKEN IMMEDIATELY but the item(s) will not be despatched until 20th March 2017.

• The PRE-BUY price for the DVD is £10.00 (including VAT).

• When you complete your PRE-BUY you will be able to review your order in your account's order history.

• This Blu-ray is Region B so please ensure that your player is able to play Region B discs before purchasing.

• When purchasing pre-buy and non pre-buy items together, the latter will be dispatched first.

• We are expecting heavy site activity when ordering goes live – if you cannot connect to the website then please try again later.

Handling cases that are too baffling to be solved by normal police routine is all in a day’s work for Department S – a shadowy Interpol department that specialises in the inexplicable and the illogical.

Its small core of operatives include flamboyant novelist Jason King (Peter Wyngarde), man of action Stewart Sullivan (Joel Fabiani) and gorgeous computer expert Annabelle Hurst (Rosemary Nicols). Newly remastered in HD from the original 35mm film elements for this Blu-ray edition, Department S has never looked better!

On this disc:

Handicap Dead
Death is the golfing hazard when the players tee off for a grim game in which the stakes are to be found a long way from the course!

Six Days
An airliner is missing for six days - but when it arrives in London, crew and passengers alike swear that they have noticed nothing amiss!

One of Our Airfcraft is Empty
Though flying conditions are perfect an approaching aircraft asks to be switched to automatic landing - and when it lands it's found to be empty!

The Treasure of the Costa del Sol
Two men are found dead alongside a small fortune in high denomination dollar bills - the only clue, a list of girls' telephone numbers.

PLEASE READ THE FOLLOWING NOTES BEFORE YOU PLACE YOUR ORDER

• This is a PRE-BUY for Department S: Volume 2 out of six Blu-ray and is only available while stocks last.

• As this is a PRE-BUY PAYMENT WILL BE TAKEN IMMEDIATELY but the item(s) will not be despatched until 10th April 2017.

• The PRE-BUY price for the Blu-ray is £10.00 (including VAT).

• When you complete your PRE-BUY you will be able to review your order in your account's order history.

•• This Blu-ray is Region B so please ensure that your player is able to play Region B discs before purchasing.

• When purchasing pre-buy and non pre-buy items together, the latter will be dispatched first.

• We are expecting heavy site activity when ordering goes live – if you cannot connect to the website then please try again later.

One of ITC's best-loved series, Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased) took the standard "private eye" formula that the company excelled in and turned it on its head... by making one of the partners a ghost!

Starring Mike Pratt as the rugged, down-to-earth Jeff Randall and Kenneth Cope as his late partner Marty Hopkirk, the glamour is supplied by Annette Andre as Marty's wife, Jean. Newly remastered in HD from the original 35mm film elements for this Blu-ray edition, Randall & Hopkirk (Deceased) has been given a new lease of (after) life!

On this disc:

Vendetta for a Dead Man
An escaped prisoner decides to take his vengeance out on Jean.

When Did You Start to Stop Seeing Things?
In the vicious world of big business Jeff Randall is definitely not himself!

Just for the Record
Jeff and Marty run into beauty queens and a would-be king.

Could You Recognise the Man Again?
Jean Hopkirk is held hostage to stop her giving evidence in a murder case.

A Disturbing Case
Talking to a Marty lands Jeff in hospital for treatment!

PLEASE READ THE FOLLOWING NOTES BEFORE YOU PLACE YOUR ORDER

• This is a PRE-BUY for Randall and Hopkirk: Deceased Volume 5 out of six Blu-ray and is only available while stocks last.

• As this is a PRE-BUY PAYMENT WILL BE TAKEN IMMEDIATELY but the item(s) will not be despatched until 24th April 2017.

• The PRE-BUY price for the Blu-ray is £10.00 (including VAT).

• When you complete your PRE-BUY you will be able to review your order in your account's order history.

•• This Blu-ray is Region B so please ensure that your player is able to play Region B discs before purchasing.

• When purchasing pre-buy and non pre-buy items together, the latter will be dispatched first.

• We are expecting heavy site activity when ordering goes live – if you cannot connect to the website then please try again later.

Unseen for over fifty years, this exceptionally rare feature sees comedy legend Norman Wisdom at his best playing a naïve explosives expert who finds himself involved with a criminal gang after uncovering nefarious dealings by a prominent industrialist!

Hailed as one of Wisdom's finest films, it was one of two features he made independently, and marked a departure from his more familiar and endlessly popular comic creation, 'the Gump'. Co-starring Alfred Marks and Susannah York, There Was a Crooked Man was directed by the BAFTA-nominated Stuart Burge.

Synopsis: Pop legend David Essex stars opposite Beau Bridges in a bittersweet story set in the cut-throat world of motorcycle racing. Featuring thrilling scenes filmed at the 1979 British Grand Prix and a powerful score by John Cameron (and a memorable top-ten hit for Essex himself) Silver Dream Racer is presented here in a brand-new High Definition transfer from original film materials in its original, as-exhibited aspect ratio.

Aspiring racer Nick Freeman returns to his job as a garage mechanic after losing out to his underhanded American rival Bruce McBride. A twist of fate, however, gives Nick one more chance: when his brother is killed in a motorcycle accident, Nick inherits the untested, super-fast 500cc prototype on which he was working. Despite a series of crushing setbacks, he finally has the chance to prove both himself and the "Silver Dream Machine"...

Synopsis: Combining exquisite imagery of both landscape and wildlife and with fine performances from a top-line cast including Eric Porter, Jeremy Kemp, Oscar nominee Rachel Roberts and Bill Travers The Belstone Fox is a captivating film for the whole family. Written and directed by Born Free's James Hill and with original music from the legendary Laurie Johnson it is featured in a brand-new High Definition transfer from the original film elements in its original theatrical aspect ratio.

Based on David Rook's acclaimed novel The Ballad of the Belstone Fox (which went on to inspire Disney's The Fox and the Hound) it tells the story of Tag, an orphaned fox cub reared with a litter of foxhound puppies and who forms a close friendship with a pup named Merlin. Years pass and Tag's wily ways keep him safe but when he is eventually cornered he embarks on a course of action which could end in tragedy...

Special Features and Specs:
Original theatrical trailer
Textless material
Image gallery
English SDH subtitles
STREET DATE: AUGUST 28.

Neruda

Synopsis: Chile, 1948: Senator Pablo Neruda, diplomat and future Nobel Prize-winning poet, accuses the government of betraying the Communist Party and is swiftly impeached. Pursued by the police, Neruda and his artist wife are forced into hiding and an intimate game of cat and mouse begins.

In Europe, the legend of the poet hounded by the policeman grows and artists led by Picasso call for his freedom. Neruda, meanwhile, inspired by his transformative new life as a fugitive, writes his epic collection of poems, Canto General, capturing the turmoil of a Latin America in crisis.

Paying homage to a mercurial creator who is impossible to pin down in conventional biography, this playful, inventive feature by Oscar-nominated Pablo Larrain is the story of the escape, the investigation and the literary legend of a man once hailed as "the greatest poet of the 20th century". Starring Luis Gnecco and Gael Garcia Bernal, the film plays out like a road movie, inviting us to soar alongside Neruda in his poetry, his memory, and his deeply held sometimes paradoxical political ideals.

STREET DATE: JULY 10.

The Hippopotamus

Synopsis: Triple Olivier Award winner Roger Allam heads a stellar cast as the cantankerous, whiskey-swilling protagonist in this brand-new adaptation of Stephen Fry's bestselling novel. With a supporting cast that includes Tim McInnerny, Emily Berrington, Russell Tovey, Fiona Shaw and Matthew Modine, director John Jencks realises a decade-long ambition to become the first person to bring one of Fry's novels to the screen.

Ted Wallace, lapsed poet and disgraced theatre critic, is summoned to his friends Lord and Lady Logan's Norfolk manor to investigate a series of unexplained miracle healings. Ted tracks down the perpetrator of the phenomena, his fifteen-year-old godson David Logan, whose parents believe he has healing hands. Unaware of David's disturbingly unorthodox methods, the Logans are now set on sharing their son's "gift" with the world. With a poet's passion for the truth, Ted hurries to debunk the miracles and save a young man from a lifetime of embarrassment.

Special Features and Specs:
Book to Screen - Featurette
British Comedy Special
Making of - Featurette
Extensive interviews with cast and crew
Optional English SDH subtitles
STREET DATE: JULY 3.

Moulin Rouge

Synopsis: One of the most lavish British films of the silent era in both budget and scope, Moulin Rouge stars Jean Bradin, Eve Gray and Russian-German screen sensation Olga Tschechowa in the story of a young aristocrat driven to a suicide attempt after falling in love with a young dancer and her elegant, ravishingly beautiful mother.

Set in and around the famous dance-halls of Paris, Moulin Rouge showcased British International Pictures' engagement of leading Continental film-makers during the late 1920s. The first British film directed by expressionist pioneer Ewald Andre Dupont, it also features Werner Brandes' stylish, distinctively European cinematography and art direction by Oscar winner Alfred Junge.

Filmed at Elstree through the winter of 1927, the film was originally trade shown in March 1928 as a silent film with live musical accompaniment. It was re-released in 1929 with a recorded, synchronised score by John Reynders.

Special Features and Specs:
NEW restoration of the film
Image gallery
Original script PDF
Booklet
STREET DATE: JUNE 26.

The Naked Civil Servant

Synopsis: The BAFTA-winning adaptation of Quentin Crisp's best-selling autobiography, The Naked Civil Servant features an arguably career-best performance by John Hurt as Crisp – a flamboyant homosexual trying to live an openly gay lifestyle in the intolerant pre-war years.

Funny, tragic and, at times, heart-warming, this unflinching story of an unconventional man is strongly directed by the multi-award winning Jack Gold. It is featured here in a brand-new High Definition restoration from original film elements, in its original fullscreen aspect ratio.

I picked up the reframed WORLD AT WAR during the Network sale and had it delivered today -- or I should say, not "reframed," but properly framed 4:3. As much as I thought the 16:9 version was well done in terms of being "recomposed", I was not prepared for how much you really did lose with the cropping. This image is far more satisfying, I have to admit.

In either version, it's amazing how much high-definition does for this series. All the archival footage was restored and in some cases, looks like entirely different, and appreciably more detailed, film. Strongly recommended either way -- but especially in 4:3, as it should be (this is Region B and is 50i PAL -- fortunately my new Samsung can play PAL natively so the image is even better!).

I took advantage of the Network Summer Sale this year, so I ordered the remaining ITC soundtracks I didn't have. I've heard good and bad things about these releases, but it's not likely that any label will be stepping forward anytime soon to releasing these, so it's better than nothing.

This classic ITC series stars Richard Bradford in a career-defining role as McGill, a discredited ex-CIA agent reduced to working as a private investigator. Now travelling the world as a gun for hire, McGill has an unorthodox approach and a strong sense of personal integrity that often brings him into conflict with both his employers and the authorities – and makes him more enemies than friends...

Critically acclaimed and endlessly popular, Man in a Suitcase is newly remastered in HD from the original 35mm film elements for this Blu-ray edition.

On this disc:

Man from the Dead
All That Glitters
Sweet Sue
The Bridge
Find the Lady

Region ABC.

PLEASE READ THE FOLLOWING NOTES BEFORE YOU PLACE YOUR ORDER

• This is a PRE-BUY for Man in a Suitcase: Volume 1 out of 6 Blu-ray and is only available while stocks last.

• As this is a PRE-BUY PAYMENT WILL BE TAKEN IMMEDIATELY but the item(s) will not be despatched until 12th December 2017.

• The PRE-BUY price for the Blu-ray is £10.00 (including VAT).

• When you complete your PRE-BUY you will be able to review your order in your account's order history.

• This Blu-ray is Region B so please ensure that your player is able to play Region B discs before purchasing.

• When purchasing pre-buy and non pre-buy items together, the latter will be dispatched first.

• We are expecting heavy site activity when ordering goes live – if you cannot place your order please try again later.

To celebrate the long-awaited arrival of Hammer House of Horror in High Definition we're giving away a facsimile of an original script with each Blu-ray set ordered only from networkonair.com,

These specially printed reproductions contain the original Hammer shooting scripts together with the additional pink amendment pages introduced during production, all courtesy of the Hammer archive at de Montfort University, ITV and Hammer Film Productions.

There are just 500 copies available of each of Children of the Full Moon, The Silent Scream, The Mark of Satan and The Two Faces of Evil and these will be despatched separately to your Blu-ray before the end of November. Your Blu-ray will be despatched on or before the release date.

• One script will be issued per Blu-ray set ordered and scripts will be selected randomly.
• Please do not email to ask for specific scripts, preferences or request swaps. We are not able to fulfil such requests or enter into correspondence about the selection process.
• This offer is exclusive to networkonair.com and scripts will not be made available elsewhere. Quantities are strictly limited. Once they are gone, they are gone.

The initial pressings include a limited edition soft-touch lamination O-card with a double hit of Pantone red. Vivid, mysterious, deep… yet velvet to the touch!

This star-studded anthology from Hammer Films presents thirteen unforgettable tales of spine-chilling terror. Reimagining classic Hammer themes in a contemporary British setting and signalling a new direction for the legendary film studio under the aegis of producer Roy Skeggs, the series blends the supernatural with a very modern horror – from hauntings and demonic possessions to sinister incarcerations and cannibalism...

A huge hit for ITV, Hammer House of Horror boasts a consistently high-calibre cast including Peter Cushing, Diana Dors, Denholm Elliott, Brian Cox and Sian Phillips. Showcased in its original fullscreen aspect ratio, the complete series appears here for the first time in stunning new High Definition remasters made from the original film elements.